The Indian Express               29.04.2013

The jury still out on sweet uses of jaggery for sanitation workers

Is distribution of jaggery among sanitation workers beneficial to
their health? Even as there is no unanimity on the issue, the long-drawn
process in the Municipal Corporation has ensured that the agenda for
approval of budget for procuring jaggery has not been approved for close
to a year.

Distribution of jaggery among sanitation workers and industrial
workers at some places is a traditional practice. The same was practised
in the city before the Municipal Corporation came into existence. The
practice was later discontinued. However, since May last year, the
practice has been started again. While for several months jaggery was
distributed, it was decided that financial approval be sought to
purchase it for the next six months. An amount of Rs 3.05 lakh would be
spent on procuring around 70 quintals of jaggery.

Medical Officer of Health Dr B K Salwan, who gave his opinion in
favour of distribution of jaggery to the Municipal Commissioner, says,
“The sanitation workers are functioning in such conditions that they
suffer from hypoglycemia. It means that the blood sugar levels reduce
drastically. Also, due to handling garbage, they suffer from problems
like worm infestation. I recommended that jaggery should be distributed
among the sanitation workers to improve their health.”

However, doctors at the premier hospitals in the city hold
different opinion. Dr Rajesh Kumar, head of School of Public Health,
PGIMER, maintains it is just a traditional belief. “Jaggery is of no
help against dust. It is simply a practice that has been going on for
years. It is a good source of iron like several other food items,” he
says.

A senior doctor at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital, Sector
16, says there are no benefits of distributing jaggery among sanitation
workers as is believed. While jaggery can be distributed, there is no
way of ensuring that it is eaten regularly, he adds.

At present, every sanitation worker is entitled to one kilo jaggery
every month. When the agenda was proposed in the MC House, the
councillors demanded that the quantity should be increased to five
kilos. In fact, the issue received support across party lines, with each
party making attempts to outdo the other in support of the proposal.
Several rounds of discussion were held on the issue. This, however, did
not receive administrative approval.

The approval for purchase of one kilo jaggery for every
sanitation worker every month was received in April last year. The
tenders were called after almost a year and a final decision would now
be taken by the Finance and Contract Committee of the MC.

Councillor Arun Sood, who is a member of the F&CC, says,
“From September onwards, jaggery is not being distributed affecting the
health of the sanitation workers. Instead of five kilos that we had
raised the demand for, not even one kilo is being given. Bureaucratic
rigmarole has ensured that the proposal has been doing the rounds for a
year. Jaggery negates the effect of dust that the sweepers work in.”